Welcome Summer, Vest repairs, baby gift

Let's all give a warm (ha, get it?) welcome to the summer season! It's hot, it's humid and you want to stay indoors and in the cool breeze of a fan. So what have I been working on? Plenty of things, that's for sure! Of course stop by my Instagram to view weekly things I do or share about.

Each season I enjoy decorating and celebrating the season. On June 21st we had Summer Solstice, which did these photos for and a staff.

summer decor

summer solstice

I've been sewing, crafting and doing repairs to thrifted clothing I already own. The vest above needed some TLC recently. The piping on this (the edging) was frayed and just falling apart with time. So how do you repair that? Well I wasn't going to tear apart the piping edge on this! Instead, I find a simple (beginner. easy) solution that can be done in an afternoon. 

a paint brush and puff paint

before & after

I purchased puff paint to make repairs with. I used a dark brown shade which matched perfectly! With the use of a paint brush, I could simply dip it in puff paint, then paint the piping. This left a nice smooth coverage and no more frays or cracks! Just put down a little paper and use a wide brush, easy as that.

plush toy pattern design

I am also working on a toy plush for a friends soon-to-be baby boy (due in autumn). I based this off Nightwing from the Teen Titans series. Since it's for an infant I kept a simple round pillow shape to it. I am going to use flannel fabric, felt and sew it mostly by machine. I try to never put any pieces that an infant can tear off - safety first! So no buttons, ribbons or the like. I only recently cut the pattern pieces out and traced them onto fabric.

If you are in the mood to shop for handmade gifts, do visit my Etsy shop (linked in the side bar). I have over 35 items for sale currently. I have felt creations, plushes, hair accessories, upcycled clothing and much more! Support small business, support artisans and gift handmade when you can. 

New season, new projects

Autumn is fast approaching (officially in a week!) and already I am thinking of new projects and Winter gifts to make. So here is a peek at what I am working on! I promise to return shortly with more photos and some "how to" for the super simple fabric bracelet!

Arrow charm fabric bracelet

The fabric bracelet was a lot of fun. I will share next time how to make one and you can easily customize the size. The cute rose gold colored arrow charm was from a too small bracelet I purchased. So if you ever happen upon something you love but it won't fit - don't fret! You can always personalize it and make it your own at home with craft supplies.

And this is a sneak peek at a Winter gift I am sewing. It will be part of a handmade set of place mats to match someone's kitchen. It's the first time I have honestly tried to do a quilt-like pattern. I wanted it to resemble an arrow, it will be sewn to a solid colored piece of fabric. I hope to make some matching coasters and cloth napkins too. 

I will have a longer post soon enough with more photos! I hope everyone has been doing well and is enjoying the change of seasons. 

Spring time, finally!

I don't know about you lot, but I was getting tired of winter. I love all seasons, I'm thankful Kentucky (where we reside) has all four! But snow, sleet, cold temps? I had enough of that by yesterday *thank you Nature!*. We seem to be readying ourselves for the April showers, which I personally welcome. I have some great multi-season muck lucks (rain boots, willies). They have a removable liner and these super cute owl print on them!

So yes, the crafty stuff! I've been playing with a few things between teaching my JoAnn classes. First, some super simple hair ties and headband.

Green: store bough, Pink dot: made, Red headband: made

I first bought the green one you see above. It's full, soft and attached to a simple hair elastic. I loved it so much but the store didn't have any others. So at the craft store I found the pink polka dot flower piece. It was sold in the scrap book section. But it was easy to apply to a hair tie with a little glue, felt backing piece - that's it! The headband piece; I purchase elastic (mine is gold tone) and just added some large beads, the felt red flower (again, scrap booking supply) and glued it all on with felt backing. 

The store bought one is just sewed on, I think mine is more secure

Natural light shows the true colors!

And of course, I can't go long without sewing something. I swear, I need rehab or something (ha!) I decided on a top from the awesome 'One piece wearables' pattern book. I've raved about it many times, I bought mine online. It comes with full patterns for most of the books projects. And if it doesn't require a pattern (like the top below) it gives very easy to follow instructions on measurements.

I used a soft cotton fabric, bias tape neck

I made this in a few days because I didn't want to rush it. I ended up altering the sides a bit and gave it a boat neck. I used matching bias tape just at the neck opening, the rest was a rolled hem of about 1/4" on the sleeves and 1/2" at the bottom. 

Close up of neck detail

My neck opening was creeping up and bothering me. So to fix this, I just added some pleating! 

Ihope everyone is enjoying a change in weather and seasons. I have some new JoAnn classes to teach come April. I'll be teaching the adult 101 class plus - I'm being brave here (since I don't have kids, I tend to not teach them), but I'll be doing a kids 102 class. No sewing machines this time round *thank goodness!* just hand sewing of a cool Earth-themed fleece pillow. Happy crafting everyone!